Medical negligence claims paid out by the Gauteng health department skyrocketed 36% in the past year, rising to R696 million in 2023\/24, compared to R512 million in the previous year, BusinessDay<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These numbers were provided by Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, who said<\/a> that most other provinces showed a decrease in medical negligence payments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gauteng, however, showed dismal performance, and these extra claims will cost and estimated additional R174 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Motsoaledi, this highlights the Gauteng Health Department\u2019s continued failure to improve medical care, as reflected in the 7,117 serious adverse events recorded last year in Gauteng public hospitals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While these numbers may have gone up notably this year, Gauteng has had a medical negligence problem for several years now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the 2021-2022 Financial Year, for example, Gauteng had 3,783 medical negligence claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The number of claims and their cost to the economy has only increased in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the first quarter of the 2023\/24 financial year, ten claims were lodged for an amount of R98 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By March of this year, the Gauteng health department had paid R623 million<\/a> to claimants who instituted medical negligence or malpractice proceedings against it in the span of only nine months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This uptick in claims has also been noted by legal professionals in Gauteng who have seen notable increases in clients wanting to pursue medical negligence claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI definitely have seen an increase in enquiries that we’ve received from patients that reside in Gauteng,\u201d Roux said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even though claims this year are close to R700 million, this number may even be too low to reflect the true state of hospitals in the province, since just because someone has has a bad experience with the healthcare system does not mean they will have a legal claim. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere’s a lot of people that are very unhappy with the healthcare system, but we would not necessarily have claims that you can prosecute further,\u201d Roux explained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Even when a matter does go to trial, proving the claim in court is just as difficult, and requires a lot of evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou would always need someone in the medical industry who looks at the matter objectively and tells you whether the treatment given was in accordance with a reasonable standard or not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roux explained that while there have been some positive reforms in the realm of medical negligence claims, more progress is needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, the government has stipulated that in cases where big payments are made to patients to cover a lifetime worth of medical treatment, that money gets put in a trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Should the person pass away before all the money is used, the residue is then paid back to the department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think that’s fair and just to both parties,\u201d Roux said, explaining that he encourages this reform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, he explained that other areas, particularly surrounding the standard of care, are not satisfactory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere needs to be reform in regard to the standard of treatment given.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe get some atrocious cases where patients are not seen for two or three days in hospital and they lose arms and so forth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat’s certainly where there needs to be reform.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many of these claims stem from South Africa\u2019s public hospitals, which have received scrutiny for their high rates of medical negligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, the third biggest hospital in the world, in particular, has stood out for its poor performance in this regard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the first quarter of the 2023\/24 financial year, this hospital had the most claims lodged against it \u2013 eight claims of R114 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It seems, however, that this hospital has not managed to fix its problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Chris-Hani-Baragwanath-Hospital.jpg\")
<\/a>